Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

No serious result has been recorded in the fight against corruption in Armenia despite the creation of Anti-Corruption Council under the government and the declared fight against corruption.

Varuzhan Hoktanyan, Executive Director of Transparency International Anticorruption Center NGO stated that since establishment of the Council the officials claim that they initiated legislative changes in order to fight corruption and urged the public to wait. However, there are many flaws in the current legislation of Armenia and no political will to fight the corruption in the country is seen, Hoktanyan stressed.

He believes that the Anti-Corruption Council working under the leadership of the Prime Minister will not be able to work efficiently, as that issue requires an independent body.

“The question of the establishment of an independent body should be raised. A special investigation service which will focus its activities on the fight against corruption can be the independent candidate for that position,” he said.

Moreover, criminalization of illegal enrichment, which is the requirement of the UN Convention, and its inclusion in the agenda of the forthcoming session of Parliament, should also be done to fight the unprecedented corruption in Armenia, according to him.

“Today, many companies formally belong not to a specific deputy, but their relatives,” he said, adding that Armenian media constantly reveal them.

Hoktanyan stressed that it is impossible to fight corruption without political will, but if the Armenian government really starts to reduce the level of corruption in the country, it will harm the authorities’ personal interests.

So, if the problem of corruption is not solved in Armenia, it will lead to economic collapse. “As far as I know, a summit on attracting donors will be organized in October by the Armenian government and the Asian Development Bank. But donors look at the ratio of objective figures with reality, they see the corruption,” Hoktanyan said.

And it seems, donors will not rush to Armenia.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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